1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to concussion indicating devices. More particularly the present invention relates to a device that may attach to a helmet and indicate three different levels of concussion severity.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many situations in which a helmet, hard-hat, or other protective headgear is essential for user safety. For example, many jobs are performed in hazardous areas requiring a hard hat for protection. For example, jobs include building or road construction, manufacturing involving hazardous machinery or materials, logging, and many others.
The challenge of preventing head injuries also extends to athletics. Participation in athletic activities is increasing at all age levels. All participants may be potentially exposed to physical harm as a result of such participation. Physical harm to the head is more likely to occur in athletic events where collisions between participants frequently occur (e.g., football, field hockey, lacrosse, ice hockey, and the like). Approximately 300,000 athletes incur concussions in the United States each year. This may be a conservative estimate because many minor head injuries and low grade concussions go unreported. Although most concussions occur in high-impact sports, athletes in low-impact sports are not immune to mild traumatic brain injury.
Head injuries are caused by positive and negative acceleration forces experienced by the brain and may result from linear or rotational accelerations (or both). Both linear and rotational accelerations are likely to be encountered by the head at impact, damaging neural and vascular elements of the brain.
At the school level, school authorities have become sensitive to the risk of injury to which student participants are exposed, as well as to the liability of the school system when injury results. Greater emphasis is being placed on proper training and instruction to limit potential injuries. Some players engage in reckless behavior on the athletic field or do not appreciate the dangers to which they and others are subject by certain types of impacts experienced in these athletic endeavors. Unfortunately, the use of mouth guards and helmets does not prevent all injuries. One particularly troublesome problem is when a student athlete experiences a head injury, such as a concussion, of undetermined severity even when wearing protective headgear. Physicians, trainers, and coaches utilize standard neurological examinations and cognitive questioning to determine the relative severity of the impact and its effect on the athlete. Return to play decisions can be strongly influenced by parents and coaches who want a star player back on the field.
The same problem arises in professional sports where the stakes are much higher for a team, where such a team loses a valuable player due to the possibility of a severe head injury. Recent medical data suggests that lateral and rotational forces applied to the head and neck area (for example, flexion/extension, lateral flexion, and axial rotation) are more responsible for axonal nerve damage than previously thought. Previous medical research had indicated that axially directed forces (such as spinal compression forces) were primarily responsible for such injuries.
Identifying the rate of acceleration that causes brain injury may assist in prevention, diagnosis, and return-to-play decisions. Most field measurements assess the acceleration or deceleration (hereinafter referred to collectively as accelerations) experienced by the player with accelerometers attached to the helmet. These devices test the impact to the skull of a player. If an athlete suffers a concussion, for example, it will be possible to determine if the relative magnitude of an impact is dangerously high relative to a threshold to which each sensing device is adjusted, taking into consideration the size and weight of the player.
Another attempt performs testing impact acceleration to the head with an intraoral device which provides acceleration information of the brain in various sports. Other attempts have been made, however all these attempts can be costly to implement and fail to provide full information to professionals in real-time.
Therefore, what is needed is a simple, low-cost device that may effectively measure a likelihood of concussion upon a given impact, and what grade that concussion may be.